Is the private sector going to concentrate on the most profitable areas , leaving less profitable areas in public hand?

We Need the Efforts of the Private Sector

It's very disappointing how much capital is invested in building clean and sustainable water infrastructure throughout the developing world. One solution to this issue could be to urge governments to raise taxes on the corporations, especially the US, and to give that tax money to the United Nations, and they can improve countries' situations. This was probably suggested many times, but we have to find a solution to this soon, or we will be on the path to destruction. We have to get back in control of water somehow so we can keep Earth's water supply clean. The problem is many countries' governments don't want to invest money or cooperate in any of this, so this has to be done with the effort of private companies/corporations/organizations. Unfortunately European countries, the North America, and few other countries are the only countries with people conscious of these environmental issues we are facing today.

Consequences

It is self-explainatory that private water multinationals always search for maximal profits. By doing this, the areas left in public hands are the least profitable ones.

Profitability

The main aim of a private firm is to make a profit, this is to please their shareholders. Developing countries are stereotypically the ones that have a lack of fresh water, their governments can't provide the neccesary needs for it's population. This is because there just isn't a sufficient amount of water within that country, to cater for everyone's needs. If a private company were to invest in providing water for an LEDC, then they would greatly increase their costs because there is likely to be no built in water infrastructure and a lack of available water. They may have to import water to be able to provide sufficient supply and prices would have have to be dropped greatly if it were to be governed by the free market They wouldn't benefit as greatly from economies of scale because the money invested would be much greater than the water supplied, compared to an MEDC. Usually most MEDC's have plenty of water, except the U.A.E, they currently have a working pipe system, this leaves less work for the private compaines. The key point though is that in developed countries people can afford to buy the water, many people in undeveloped countries can't because they get paid less than the equivalent of a £1 a day. The price of water would have to be much lower in the LEDC, therefore the businesses will have to pay for the lower prices out of their profits or the cost will be placed onto consumers in developed countries.

Overall I think that there is little incentive for companies to enter the water market in developing countries therefore the need for either government intervention or the UN to step in will be neccesary. The situation in Europe is different because water is much more available, but there is still many people that won't be able to afford to buy the privately owned water.